Scared Straight!

There is no denying that this documentary is really engaging, if only in a perverse sort of way. The grating, in-your-face approach was certainly ahead of its time and the ultimate message--however closely orchestrated and exaggerated--cannot be mistaken. It's interesting to note how we are assaulted with "good" here, rather than being assaulted with "evil", how we , as passive viewers, are pushed and pulled by the film without our own volition. We are "turned out" by the convicts and walk away broken but wiser. That said, the film reminds me somewhat of "Reefer Madness" and other such pieces of propaganda that force the audience into an ostensibly "real" hell-hole in an effort to scare us straight. Here we have a more street-wise but equally paranoid attempt to pummel at-risk kids with sordid tales that will lead them away from a life of crime. The kids in the film, although shown to be the focus of the warnings--the very center of attention, are really nothing more than supporting actors-- players, not recipients, of the message which borders on outright propaganda. The real audience is comprised of slightly rowdy and/or delinquent middle class kids who both are both fearful of and fascinated by deviant actions. For them, watching this film is equivalent to "slumming". It's "real" only in a very mediated way. With that in mind, it's arguable that this film's shock tactics do more to entertain than to instruct. Thus, on a fictional level the film is wonderful, but if we're looking for gritty cinema verite that just happens to coincide with governmental policies we will be disappointed.

A documentary that you will never forget once you see it, Scared Straight ought to be required viewing in every high school. As narrator Peter Falk points outs at the being of the film, it at first seems too good to be true that three hours in prison will make young trouble makers change their ways, but the subsequent prison visit shows that it is possible to change young lives in such a short time. The confrontation between the inmates and kids is riveting; you hang on to every word, and feel the tension in the room even while watching it on video. The change in the kids sent on the prison visit is astonishing, as shown in the interviews taped before and after the trip to Rahway. Before the trip, the kids all brag about their crimes and think they will never get caught; the interviews taken after the prison visit shows how effective the program was for each of them. Scared Straight is a powerful film; the setting and language will be offensive to some, but it is exactly those elements which make it such a forceful production. Though made back in the 1970s, it is still important and timely viewing.

I was born in Tottenham, North London in 1970, by the time I was fifteen I had witnessed the worst riots in Britain where a police constable was murdered. By the time I was sixteen I had decided that it did'nt matter if I ever became overweight because I was never going to run from anyone as I would have a gun and it was they who would need to do the running. I distinctively remember not caring how many times I got arrested as I was never going to get a job. I carried a knife, smoked weed and coke. I was bad, for my age, even the older crooks used to say to my elder brother, "Alan he's gonna make you look like a pussy when he's our age".

One night I stayed up late at home, well actually I snuck downstairs because in my parents house, when they went to bed, "you go to bed". Flicking through the channels I bumped into a documentary called the "Lifers Group". The second I clapped eyes on it I was in a trance, I saw, first hand, where my life was taking me. By the time the documentary finished I was soaking wet. The next morning at 0900 hours I was standing outside Surbiton Army Careers Office. Within 3 weeks I was conducting Basic Training for the Royal Green Jackets. Thanks to Scared Straight I've been decorated by HM the Queen Twice, I have a helicopter pilots licence, two dashing boys, a home of my own, direction the lot. Thankyou!

This is the kind of frank, brutal, and explicit commentary that you simply cannot find in a "prison" movie. The interaction between the "Lifers" (inmates who have been committed to life sentences, and perform an outreach service to children at risk) and the potentially felonious kids is extremely powerful. After watching, you have to wonder why there isn't a program like this in every city in every state in every country. Forget about any fictional account of prison life that you've ever seen - Scared Straight is the real deal, and one you won't soon forget.

I first saw this nearly five years ago as a high school freshman, in health class. The experience was absolutely riveting, and as has already been pointed out, there's a brutal honesty in this film that simply doesn't come from a screenplay.

While this film is over two decades old, that in no way lessens its impact. With talk-shows now blindly bombarding us with images of indignant, lawless teenagers and trying to dispel the situation with pop psychologists and boot camps, the "Scared Straight!" program looks all the more effective.

This is definitely not one to miss.